"Brand-new she was. Had the smell of a brand-new car, and that's about the finest smell in the world."He considered."Except maybe for pussy."

I was 13 or 14 when I first read this book, and that quote just killed my young adolescent mind. And it never left my mind in the 30 plus years since...

This book is still haunting! I think the combination of old time rock lyrics and the classic car elements just totally works together! Add a little bit of evil and va la! Christine! Fun to re read after all these years!

Read it about thirty years ago, when a 58 Plymouth Fury wasn't even a thirty year old car. It scared the life out of as I read it at night afraid to switch off the light and I couldn't stop reading it. King often puts out that evil can lurk in a place like in Salems Lot. He would almost have you convinced that it does. ( )

Finally have read this one. Great book - it almost completely follows the movie but there is a major difference to be had. While the events are the same basically, the story behind it is altered majorly. I was a bit peeved about Dennis and Leigh, and it was odd with King's point of view -- for the first 200 pages or so he told the story through first-person (Dennis, the friend.) Suddenly, he switches to multiple viewpoints until page 350 or so. Then he stays in first person, Dennis only, for the rest of the book. So strange! The very end was well done and I wish it wasn't over in a way. Nifty ensemble of characters, quickly paced, unique story with various ups and downs, and a sad, bittersweet touch. The main focus is triangles - Arnie, Dennis, and Leigh --- and Arnie, Lebay, and Christine.

Now, the below is rambling on why I think the book is changed from the movie, in that it was Lebay who made Christine alive and was the real power rather than it being an evil powerful car by itself. It's filled with spoilers so don't read if you haven't read the book.

Just read it, finished it for the first time tonight. Thoroughly enjoyed it and put up a short review.

I agree the character of Arnie was sad and he was very likable.

Confused on the possession too. It seems to me that LeBay made Christine alive somehow rather than how the movie shows it? When the brother is telling Dennis during their first conversation about his brothers obsession with the car, he mentions that Lebay was always hunting for a car and then finally ordered one and had custom things done to it like the paint job. This would indicate to me he ordered that style of car in the way he wanted, but that he never saw it in person prior, right?

So either the car was a normal car and it was supernaturally began with their link, or else the car he just happened to pick was Christine, already inhabited.

However, if the second is the truth -- then why would Christine let herself sit in a bodyshop or dealer? And, if she always liked to keep everything the same with her stubborn personality, why did she allow herself to be custom painted and keep that paint?

This is what's been nagging me about Christine being alive herself from the start. Additionally, instead of making it about Christine - once LeBay was revealed, it seemed mainly about him the duration of the book, in control of Christine basically. It would seem because of that that he is the driving force. Even the very end of the book now ends with "His undying fury", rather than hers. King changed it as readers learned more and read further.

The other thing I think of is if Christine was alive and changed the peoples lives and absorbed them, so to speak, then why would she merge LeBray and Arnie? Why would she not leave him as he is and slowly change him into another version of himself?

If she just changes people and gets them addicted to her, that would explain Lebray, but it wouldn't explain Arnie merging with Lebray until Lebray was the main driving lifeforce behind the car. Otherwise, a previous owner would also have been merged in Lebray I think. And it's made clear with backstory that Lebray was always an evil sort of man, way before he met Christine.

The last hang-up I have is, why did the car deteriorate so bad under Lebrays watch? I guess it did not have as much power or restoration before being purchased by Arnie? Dennis seems to start finding that out at the end. So, again, that would mean previously Christine - before Arnie and Lebay merged, did not have as much power by itself? And that the merging of the two would make the car as alive as it was, which would again indicate they were the only owners ever of Christine....thus meaning it was Lebray again rather than Christine possessing him at first.

You will be very careful how you treat your car after reading this. It is a pity that no one writes like this horror anymore. Even Stephen King himself. "Christine" is a perfect round-the-camp-fire story with chilling moments, incredibly real characters and a sad, very sad feeling washing over you. It is a classic horror story. 5 bright, shiny stars! ( )

A POSSESSED car? An insanely angry 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine that drives itself around attacking people? This time Stephen King has gone too far, I said to myself as I began to catch the drift of his eighth and latest horror novel, ''Christine.'' This time he's not going to get me the way he did in ''The Shining,'' ''The Stand,'' ''Cujo'' and his other maniacal stories. This time he's just going to leave me cold.

SEVERAL years ago Stephen King published ''Night Shift,'' a collection of short stories that had appeared in magazines before his debut as a novelist. Among them was ''Trucks,'' in which the products of Detroit's auto industry were anthropomorphized and portrayed as barbaric, homicidal and utterly antihuman. I recall the piece vividly, because Mr. King made those vehicles - all vehicles - live not only on the page but in my imagination. ''Trucks'' might also have been the inspiration for Mr. King's latest novel.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Christine is no lady, but 17-year-old Arnie Cunningham loves her enough to do anything to possess her. Arnie's best friend Dennis distrusts her at first sight. Arnie's teen-queen girlfriend Leigh fears her the moment she senses her power. Arnie's parents, teachers and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her. Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ulitimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror... (0-451-12838-9)

It was love at first sight. From the moment seventeen-year-old Arnie Cunningham saw Christine, he knew he would do anything to possess her. But Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate vehicle of terror